My Other Self
by Tobias
Summary: What was supposed to be a trip for summer vacation turns into something weird when Sam and Bumblebee stumble on a town protected by girls calling themselves by Autobot names. What's more, there's something familiar about that pink Dodge Charger.
1. Camp Bell

xxxxxx

Camp Bell, NV

xxxxxx

What had started as a bar fight had ended when the aggressor heard the sound of a shotgun being snapped shut and felt the air at the back of his head move as it was leveled with his body.

"What the _fuck_," the girl behind him spat out "do you think you are doing?"

He didn't dare open his mouth, instead he turned around slowly and raised his hands little by little. It was only after he turned around he realized that along with the sawed-off shotgun carrying femme fatal, there were two other girls with her, all holding some sort of hand cannon.

"Better answer her," The girl on the left, wearing tight fitting blue jeans and white t-shirt. "She hates it when she's ignored."

Legs shaking the man took his chances and bolted out the front door, just making it to the door jam when a fist stuck itself in the path of his face, causing him to summersault and land unceremoniously on the ground with a thud, a fourth girl appearing from behind the wall. "I didn't hit him, he ran into it!"

The girl with the shotgun slung it over her shoulder, grinning a little. "Grab'em girls. We'll dump'em at the county line."

xxxxxx

Grinning with satisfaction as two of the girls tossed the troublemaker onto the ground just outside they county line, leaving him a bottle of water and a small amount of bus money before turning around and heading back for their cars.

"Still don't get why we leave them water and bus money." One of the girls roller her eyes, leaning on her black Ford pick-up truck.

"Because," The girl with the shotgun answered, stowing it away in the back of a red Chevy Suburban, "We're not murders. Just the local peace keepers."

"Yah, Ironhide!" Another girl called out, leaning on her yellow Corvette, sporting a yellow and black jacket and blue jeans. "Not all of us can act bad-ass like you. Some of us actually have hearts."

"Willing to test that theory, Bumblebee?" The girl called Ironhide retorted, fists held up like she was ready for a street fight.

"Knock it off you two." The first girl growled, getting into her car. "Acting like kids."

"Sorry, Chief." Ironhide replied, shrugged her shoulders and getting into her truck.

"Yah, sorry Optimus." Bumblebee said, climbing into her own car and starting the engine.

"_Good,"_ Came the leader's reply over the CB radio. _"I'd hate to have to feed you two to Red Alert, or worse yet, Ratchet."_ Optimus grinned, setting the radio back into it's cradle, knowing full well that both girls were shaken up.

xxxxxx

Tranquility, NV

xxxxxx

Sam groaned realizing that the music wasn't come from his alarm clock, but Bumblebee sitting in the driveway. His mother was already knocking on the door.

"Sam? I think Bumblebee wants you up!"

_Well, duh._ Sam sighed, rolling out of bed and scouting his floor for the jeans he had tossed off the night before. He pulled the on before pulling a shirt from his dresser and heading downstairs, grabbing his toothbrush on the way and doing a quick job on his teeth before heading outside.

"What, what, what, what?" Sam said, leaning on the hood of the car and leveling his gaze at the hologram sitting in the driver's seat.

"You promised we would head out early. It's almost noon!" Bumblebee replied, revving his engine a little. "It is a good thing that I convinced you to pack and put it in my trunk last night."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Yah, yah. Hold on." He said running back into the house to tell his parents he was off for his summer vacation trip and he'd be back in two weeks before running back out and climbing into the passenger side of the idling Camaro.

"Lets go, Bee."

xxxxxx

Mikeala pushed the strap of her bag over her shoulder, making sure she had everything she would need before locking the front door behind her and heading down the steps. "Morning, Ratchet." She said, tossing the bag into the back of the waiting medic before getting in on the passenger side.

"Good morning, Mikeala. Did you have a proper stasis cycle?"

Mikeala, out of habit, glanced at the radio. "Proper wha? You mean did I sleep well?"

"More of less." Came the semi-smug reply.

"Yes, I did, Thank you." She rolled her eyes a little, grinning slightly. "What about you?"

"My stasis cycle was uneventful."

_Just once,_ She told herself. _I'll get him to say he slept well._

"Anyway," Mikeala began. "Did Bee and Sam make it there yet?"

There was a pause and she knew he was contacting Bee. "Bumblebee says that him and Sam just hit the road a little under forty-two minutes ago."

"Great." Mikeala rolled her eyes. "Is Will still coming?"

Another small pause. "Ironhide says he is still trying to wake the sleeping human."

Mikeala giggled a little. "So it looks like we're at the middle of the pack then."

"It would appear so. Optimus won't be leaving with Maggie until tomorrow since she has to work. He says that Glen believes he has come down with something called 'Hunger Sickness' and won't be joining us."

Mikeala could hear the pain in the medics voice at the made up sickness, she grinned a little. "Just say it, Ratch."

"Well, I know I'm new to human medicine, but 'Hunger Sickness'? Is that even a real illness? You think they could have come up with a better name for it."

Mikeala grinned, remembering why Ratchet was her favorite.

xxxxxx

Camp Bell, NV

xxxxxx

"Good work today girls." The girl known as Optimus said, sitting with her feet up on the desk in the wooden house, grinning a little to herself. "Once again, the population here, all seventy of them, is safe from outsiders."

Ironhide rolled her eyes, cleaning her weapon. "Yah, until the next idiot decides they want to raise trouble when they find out this town doesn't have a set police force."

Bumblebee chuckled, having shrugged of her jacket for a plain back t-shirt. "Hey, don't be all pissy just because Ratchet yelled at you for your suspension being all messed up."

"Honestly!" Ironhide growled, slamming her fist down on the counter. "Damn, Mechanic has it out for me! I told her over and over that I didn't see that damn ditch! It isn't my fault that those damn overhead lights don't light up the ground as much as I _need_ them too!"

"Still," Came the smooth reply of the coverall wearing, grease stained, girl leaning on the doorframe. "It looks like you hit that thing doing fifty." She said, holding her hand up when Ironhide went to reply. "I've warned you about your speed before."

"Oh, shut up."

Ratchet rolled her eyes, pulling off the coveralls to revels a blue shirt with the words 'Camp Bell Volunteer Fire Department'. "Keep up that talk and I'll tell Red Alert to not use any Morphine next time you get a hole in your shoulder."

Ironhide sneered. "Just like you to hide behind your sister." She said, watching as said girl walked up and tossed her arm around Ratchet. She was also sporting a blue shirt, but this one read 'Camp Bell First Response Paramedic'.

"Quit your bitchin'." Red Alert said, moving to sit on the nearby bench. "Or I'll prescribe some industrial strength PMS pills." She said, laughing when Ironhide's reply was the middle finger in her direction.

"Anyway," Red Alert began. "Sensors couple hundred miles out picked up a speeding Camaro heading in our direction. Looks like trouble."

Optimus nodded, setting down her freshly opened beer. "We'll have to wait and see. But for now, prepare for trouble."

xxxxxx

Route 36, NV

xxxxxx

"Jeeze, this place is just desert, Bee. We couldn't take the scenic route?"

The Camaro revved his engine. "If you hadn't slept in so late, maybe. But we need to make up for lost time if we plan to get there before the others."

"Okay, but I'm hungry Bee, and I need to use the bathroom."

"My sensors indicate there is a town fourteen miles ahead. At my current speed I will reach there in just under twenty minutes, can you hold out that long?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Cheeky Camaro." He sighed, looking out the window, he could almost hear Bumblebee chuckle at him over the sound of his engine. Just before they were about to enter the town he felt the car swerve a little and the engine's noise die down.

"You alright, Bee?"

"Something has punctured two of my tires. I will need to stop in town and wait for Ratchet to catch up."

"Great," Sam said as they neared the town.

xxxxxx

Camp Bell, NV

xxxxxx

"Direct hit!" Bumblebee grinned, doing a little dance when Ironhide had confirmed that the hidden spikes they had laid out had hit the back two tires of the Camaro.

"Yah, yah." Ironhide grumbled. "Lets get back into town, Optimus wants us all ready for them."

xxxxxx

With Sam and Bee

xxxxxx

Sam stood up and stretched his legs a little, looking around him before leaning on the roof of the car, watching Bee's holographic driver stand up and do the same.

"I feel like I'm in a western." Sam observed, looking around with a shrug. Bumblebee rolled his eyes, following Sam as he wanted into the nearest building marked 'Trading Post'.

The clerk looked up with a soft smile, putting his news paper down. "You boys look a little lost."

Sam chuckled sheepishly with a small grin. "Heh, yah. We are on our way to a campout with some friends when we got a flat."

"A flat tire, eh?" The clerk said, moving from behind the counter and look out the window at the yellow Camaro. "Nice set of wheels you got there. Not a classic model, but nice all the same."

Sam chuckled to himself see Bee's hologram swell with pride at the complement.

"It does alright," Sam sighed, ignoring the glare from Bee. "Right now I'm just looking for something to eat and bathroom."

"You can use the bathroom here." The clerk said, pointing towards the back of the store. "There's a restaurant down the way, you can get some good home style cooking there. As for getting your tires fixed? Well, Ratchet can get you fixed up with those, best damn mechanic in all these parts."

Sam and Bee glanced at each other before turning back to the clerk. "Thanks." Sam said, heading off towards the rest room.

xxxxxx

"Does Ratchet come out here when we're not looking?" Sam asked Bumblebee while they walked down the dirt road, looking around at the building around them.

"I don't think so." Bee admitted, following Sam around. "I doubt he would have the time."

"Odd." Sam admitted, walking into the restaurant and taking a seat at the counter. The waitress gave him a smile as she walked over. Sam ordered some food and turned around in the seat, leaning on the counter with his elbows while he looked out the large windows at the town outside.

He paid for the food and they heading back outside, just in time for Bee to tell Sam that someone was poking at his tires.

Sam looked up when they reached the car, not spotting anyone right away except for a black pick-up that had parked itself next to Bumblebee. Sam went around the other side to see a girl crouching down by the back tire, her finger tracing the hole.

"Can I help you?" Sam asked, standing over her. She looked up with a grin on her face, a small amount of grease smudged on her nose.

"Checking out that nice breathing hole in your tire." She said, shrugging at him. "'Ole Jericho in there said he had a couple of out-of-towners talking about a blown tire."

Sam looked over at Bee who simply shrugged.

"And you are?" Sam asked, turning back to the girl.

She held her hand out to him. "Name's Ratchet. I'm this town's mechanic."

Sam blinked. "No you're not."

"What?" Came the confused reply, another girl walking up behind her.

Sam held a hand out just above his head. "Ratchet is about this tall with blond hair and blue eyes. Oh, and he's _male_." _I think._

The girl looked over her shoulder when the other one who had approached put an arm around her shoulder. "What's going on here?"

"Ironhide," The girl began. "This kid's claiming I'm not me."

"Ironhide?" Sam echoed, holding his hand out a little lower than he had with Ratchet's height description. "No, no. Ironhide is this tall with black hair and blue eyes. He's a total gun nut and is defidently also male."

Now the other girl was glaring at him. "Listen, Kid, I don't know who you think you are, but you can't just come into town and start saying people aren't who they are."

"But, I know these people. You are not them!" Sam said a little louder then he wanted too. Both girls were now glaring at him just as a yellow search and rescue hummer pulled out behind Bumblebee. Mikeala jumping out of the cab and walking up to Bee's hologram.

"Hey, we got your message. Which tire?" She asked while Ratchet's hologram walked up to Sam.

"What did you hit, Sam? Both back tires? Primus."

Sam blinked wildly between the two girls, the hummer, and Ratchet's hologram.

"I... you... what?!"

"What's wrong Sam? Who are these two?" Mikeala asked, coming up behind Sam and putting an arm on his shoulder.

"Mikeala, that's Ratchet and that's Ironhide." He said, blinking and looking between the two Ratchets.

"What?" Mikeala whispered, looking at the two girls. "But Ratchet is-"

"I am right here, Mikeala." The Autobot replied from his new position next to Bumblebee's hologram.

"Right, and Ironhide is-"

"We went through this already." The female Ironhide sighed, rolling her eyes at the two teens. "Jeeze, is everyone from outside of town this stupid or what."

"I feel like I'm in a paradox of some kind." Sam groaned.

"Tell me about it. Imagine what Ironhide is going to say when he gets into town."

"I'm right here!" The girl yelled, growling at teens. She turned to Ratchet's hologram. "Hey, tall, blond, and handsome, what's your name?"

"I am Ratchet."

"Not funny!"

"No really, that's my name."

"But that's my name!"

Bumblebee sighed, rolling his eyes from his seat on the curb.

"And I thought one Ratchet was bad enough." He chuckled to himself.

"I heard that!" Both Autobot and Human yelled, glaring at him.


	2. Breaking and Entering

"This is my baby." Female Ratchet stated, puling off the blue tarp that covered a sleek '07 Dodge Charger, the car having a fading pink to white paint job.

They had all been taken to Ratchet's garage on the far side of town for her to do repairs on what she thought was just another Camaro. When Sam started looking around the shop, she had been happy to show them what was under the tarp.

Autobot Ratchet exchanged a glace with Bumblebee when the younger bot walked up to the sports car, running his hologram fingers along a few of the curves of the vehicle.

"Arcee." He whispered to himself, not noticing the look on Human Ratchet's face. The girl had lost her composure for a split second before regaining it.

"How..." Bumblebee forced his vocal processor to make the words he didn't want to say. "How did you come across this vehicle?"

Human Ratchet looked over at him. "Well, it's the damnest thing. We went out to investigate some meteors and discovered this car among the wreckage. I've been working on it for months but... I can't seem to get it started." She looked to Mikeala and Autobot Ratchet. "Maybe with a little help I can get things moving, hmm?"

xxxxxx

Bumblebee watched the girl as she changed his tire. She replaced the right one first, checking over the damaged one before moving to the left side. The others had gone to find a place for Mikeala and Sam to sleep for the night, as much as Mikeala wanted to sleep in the back of Ratchet's cab, he wouldn't let her.

"Arcee."

Bumblebee pulled himself from his thoughts, seeing the mechanic stand up and look at him.

"You know, when we found that car? There was a symbol on the front of it, and the steering wheel had that name etched into it."

Bumblebee looked up at her, but didn't say anything yet.

"I didn't think much of it but... your car has the same symbol on it. And I'm willing to bet that that necklace you've had hidden under your shirt for the past few hours has the same thing on it."

Bumblebee looked back at the Charger. "I don't see the symbol."

Ratchet clicked her tongue, drawing his attention to another tarp, she pulled it back, revealing a car hood and a few other parts. "I had to do so much body work on it, that, by the time I was done, just about everything had been removed."

Bumblebee moved to sit in front of the car. He was straining his sensors, but it was obvious there was no spark energy coming from the car. He shrugged. "Don't mind me, It was just wishful thinking." He said, lowering his head for a moment before he picked something up on his sensors. "What the..." He whispered to himself. "I need to find Ratchet... I mean, I need to find _my_ Ratchet!"

xxxxxx

Autobot Ratchet was just about to climb into his own cab and go into stasis when Bumblebee came running up, putting a hand on the door so the medic couldn't open it. Ratchet glared at the younger bot. "What?"

"It's Arcee. She's _here_."

"I saw the same car you did, Bumblebee. There was no spark energy. It isn't her." Ratchet growled, trying to open his door.

"No, Ratchet. She's shielding her energy. She doesn't know the war is over. But because of the damages from her landing, she can't communicate nor listen. She's practically blind!"

"If she's shielding her spark energy, then how did you detect it?" Ratchet sighed, leaning against himself.

"I'm a _spy_, Ratchet. It's what I do. Come on, I need your help."

Ratchet looked from his own cab to Bumblebee before sighing. "This better be good."

xxxxxx

Ratchet checked over the entire vehicle, running holographic fingers over every inch before sighing as he sat back. "I'm sorry, Bumblebee. I don't sense nor can I make out any kind of spark energy... if it is her, then..." He let the sentence hang, seeing the younger bots shoulders slump. He walked up and, much to Bee's surprise, placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know you miss her, Bumblebee. We all do."

"Everything alright in here? You two having a male bonding moment or something?" The Fem Ironhide asked, leaning on the doorframe. "If you two don't mind, I've gotta lock this place up for the night."

xxxxxx

With Autobot Ironhide

xxxxxx

"Are you asleep again?"

Will snapped awake, on reflex, grabbing the steering wheel.

"Easy." Ironhide stated, keeping him from turning it. "I know how to drive."

"I'm still getting used to my truck driving itself all over the place. Few weeks ago if I fell asleep behind the wheel I woke up in the ditch with my wife glaring at me."

"Ratchet it reporting on an interesting town about seventy miles ahead. They say that it is full of humans with our names."

"You mean," Will paused, trying not to shudder. "There is a human version of you?"

"Not funny." The truck growled back, revving it's engine in annoyance.

"I agree." Will replied, resting back into Ironhide's seat, just as the truck released the lever to allow the seat to go back. Will ended up staring at the truck cab's ceiling. "Great." He sighed. "My truck has a sense of humor."

xxxxxx

Bumblebee had waited until his sensors detected no movement in his immediate area before turning on his hologram and projecting himself inside of Fem Ratchet's workshop. He quickly looked around before pulling a flashlight off of the counter and pulling away the tarp.

He clicked the light on, jamming the object into his mouth as he reached into the window and popped open the hood, quickly looking under the hood for his target. Sure enough, with a little bit of fishing he found a small black box, pulling a small cable from his wrist he plugged it in and closed his eyes.

"_Arcee, it's me. It's Bee. You're safe, the war is over."_

All he got in return were error messages.

"_This isn't funny Arcee. I'm worried about you."_

More error message. Bumblebee growled in frustration, pulling the cable away and shutting the hood. He clicked off the flashlight, returning it to it's rightful place on the work bench before throwing the tarp over the car, just in time to turn around and realize he had a military grade blue laser pointed at his chest.

"You move, you lose a lung."

Bumblebee didn't recognize this voice, rather, he had wondered how she had snuck up on him without his noticing.

"Look, I don't want any trouble." He tried to reason, keeping his hands up.

"I think we're past that after you broke into my sister's shop."

"I just wanted to see this car again! It reminds me of someone."

"Sure it does buddy. Keep your hands right there, the others will be here soon."

"Why won't you listen to me!?"

"Lets say I do believe that this car reminds you of someone. Who does it remind you of?"

"This girl I knew... She was... is, a very, very good friend to me."

Red Alert was considering the story for a moment when he Nextel chirped.

"_Red it's Ratchet, what's the situation? Need back-up?"_

Red Alert glared at Bumblebee for a few seconds before reaching for her phone, she pressed the button, hesitating before she spoke. "I'm all set, Ratch. Damn birds set off the motion detector again."

"_Copy. I'm heading back to bed, get some rest sis."_

"You too." She said, sliding the phone back into it's holster before doing the same with her firearm. "Get outta here. Don't let me catch you breaking into here again or rlse I won't be so kind."

Bumblebee quickly left, disappearing around a corner before turning off his hologram. He sighed to himself back in his car form. _I will simply have to wait until I can uncover more evidence to convince Ratchet or Ironhide._

xxxxxx

Morning came a little too quick for the sleeping teens, but both Sam and Mikeala woke up hearing Ironhide pull into the spot next to Bumblebee and Ratchet, Will stepping out and stretching.

"I thought we were going camping." The Army Captain grumbled, rubbing his lower back.

"We were only going to stop for the night, but Bumblebee refuses to leave this spot." Ratchet's hologram sighed, leaning against his car form. "He still believes he's found Arcee."

"The sniper?" Ironhide's hologram stepped out of the passenger side, looking over at the scout's hologram with a frown. "I don't detect her presence."

"Neither do I, but Bumblebee insists it's her."

"I _feel_ it in my spark." The scout said. "I know it's her. Ironhide, Ratchet, just give me a day to gather information. Just one day, it's all I'm asking."

Ratchet sighed, rubbing his eyes before looking to Ironhide. The weapons specialist shrugged, rolling his eyes a little. "What do you think about the situation, Ratchet?"

"In my professional opinion, it isn't her. Sure, the car originally had our emblem, but anyone could have copied it after Mission City. Not only that but the vehicle in question doesn't read as an Autobot on any scanner. If it is her, then she has been deactivated to the point of no return." He seemed to pause there as if he wanted to say something else, but he stopped himself.

Ironhide turned to Bumblebee, the younger mech glaring at the CMO.

Ironhide weighted his options. He could either grant the younger mech his one day, but in the process he would upset the medic. Then he grinned to himself.

"You have one day, Bumblebee. That is that time it will take Optimus to catch up with us. When he arrives, we will rest till the humans are ready to go and then we will continue on." He said, hiding behind the reason of waiting for Optimus incase the CMO got any ideas to weld him to anything. In trust, he just wanted to spite the medic.

With a burst of energy, Bumblebee's holoform took off running back towards Fem Ratchet's shop, intent on asking the girl as many questions as he could. When Ironhide knew the young mech wouldn't hear, he turned to Ratchet.

"What didn't you tell us?"

"What?"

"I've known you a long time Ratchet. I know when you know something you're not telling. Spill it." He said, picking up a term he had heard Will use to his elder daughter.

"Well... lets say it is Arcee for a moment. It is possible, but extremely unlikely she shut down her systems before she lost too much energon and is currently sustaining minimal life off of what remains. But I scanned that entire shop from top to bottom, Ironhide, there is no trace of energon anywhere. If it _is_ her, she bled out on impact."

Mikeala was the first to speak on the human side, having listened to Ratchet during his repairs on various things and Autobots to know what to ask now. "What if we injected some energon into her system, Ratchet? Would she wake up?"

"It is, as you humans would say, a very long shot. I do not wish to get Bumblebee's hopes up."

"Can't we at least try it?" Mikeala offered again, causing the mech to glare at her. "Who's side are you on anyway?"

xxxxxx

Having studied humans for as long as he had, Bumblebee wracked his processor for anything any of the Autobot named humans had said to him since they had arrived that might have clued him in to anything about Arcee. He knew he was missing something but couldn't quite pick up on it.

He knocked on the door to the garage before lifting it open to find Fem Ratchet leaning over the open hood of the Charger, currently tinkering with a few things here and there.

"Were you born with your name?" He blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Sorry?" Ratchet looked up from her work, tilting her head a little.

"Did your parents give you the name 'Ratchet' when you were born?" Bumblebee repeated, silently turning on his scanner to see if the girl from the night before was around.

"Well, no, but we all go by the names we were given."

"Given by who?"

"That is none of your business." Bumblebee nearly jumped out of his fake skin. He turned around to see a new girl standing in the garage bay, hands on her hips. "I've heard about you and your friends. You've been causing trouble with my crew in my town. I want you all out of here by sundown."

Ratchet whipped her hands on a rag, coming up behind Bumblebee and putting an arm around his shoulder. "That is our leader. We all call her Optimus."

"Optimus." Bumblebee repeated, wondering why he hadn't seen that coming.

"Hey, did you hear me kid?" The girl they all called Optimus asked, an eyebrow raised in irritation. "Don't act like you're ignoring me. I've been keeping an eye on your rag-tag group. I want you all out of my town as fast as you can pack up and get out. Understood?"

"Stop being such a bitch, Optimus." Another girl said, coming in behind the leader, open bottle of beer in her hand. "Leave the poor kid be. He's just looking for his lost friend, Jeeze."

Optimus snatched the beer bottle from the girl's hand, setting it on the counter. "We've talked about this, Bumblebee you are still too young." She scolded.

"Fine, whatever. Just live the kid be. He's not harming anyone."

Optimus sighed and rubber her temples before turning to the holoform with another sigh. "You and your friends meet me at the grave yard at six sharp, got it?"

All Bumblebee could do is nod dumbly, wondering if he was going to get the answers he was looking for there.


	3. Lessons Learned

Much to everyone's surprise, the girl everyone seemed to call Optimus was true to her word. Sure enough, at six sharp, her SUV pulled slowly into the graveyard's parking lot, parking itself right next to Bumblebee, who was leaning on his hood waiting for her. Ratchet was parked a spot away, Mikeala sitting with him and Ironhide was to Bumblebee's left, Will sitting on the truck's tailgate.

"I see you're all here. I'm surprised, actually, didn't think any of you had the gall to actually come out here."

"Bee wants answers," Ironhide stated, hands shoved in his pockets. "And I for one, have never doubted the younglings ability to figure things out. He's a smart one, I'll give him that much."

"Right," Optimus stated, sizing up the male in front of her. "Well, follow me. We'll unravel a bit of your mystery."

xxxxxx

"This," Optimus stated, pointing at a rather large headstone. Larger than the rest as Bumblebee observed. "Is the gravesite of a very good friend of ours. She called herself R.C. and she appeared a little bit after we got that car back to Ratchet's shop. She helped us set things up and protect the people of the town. But... she fell ill one day. And it wasn't like it was happening over time, just one day she became very ill, and two days later, she disappeared altogether." She said, looking down at the ground, forcing herself not to cry. "We all searched the desert for her for days on end until we eventually gave up and built the memorial. While there isn't a body here, we know in our hearts and minds she isn't among the living anymore. That is why I don't want you poking your noses where they don't belong." She said, suddenly looking up and glaring at Bumblebee. "The people of this town were devastated when she disappeared. She helped us run off a bad mafia ring and everyone in town was thankful for that."

Bumblebee was unsure what to say. He let his eyes fall to the ground for a moment before he looked over at Ratchet, shrugging his shoulders at the medic before slowly walking back to the parking lot.

"You say one day she just up and disappeared?" Ratchet found himself asking before he could stop himself.

Optimus nodded. "That's right."

"Did anything else unexplained happen that day?"

She seemed to be thinking it over. "Nope. I know our Ratchet got a nasty chemical burn on her leg from some chemical that was leaking out of that car, but we just chucked it up to leaking battery acid."

Ratchet looked over at Ironhide. "We need to see that car."

xxxxxx

Ratchet lifted the hood of her welding helmet having just successfully welded a part of the tricycle back to it's frame. "There you go, Timothy, good as new." She said, placing the small bike back on the floor for the one child to climb on and laugh happily.

"Thank you Ratchet!" He called, quickly peddling away, the child's mothering hanging around long enough to try and pay the girl. "No need," She had stated. "I didn't do it for the money."

The kid's mother smiled back at her, offering her thanks before she ran off after her kid. Ratchet set her welding hood back on the work bench, cracking her back a little before whipping her hands off on the rag to her right. Another long day and she still couldn't figure out what was wrong with that Charger.

"Damn things going to be the death of me." She sighed, rubbing her eyes a little before turning to lock up for the night. She had just placed her hand on the light switch when someone was knocking at her garage door. Instead of flicking the light switch she moved her hand over one, clicking the garage door switch before walking over to it, shielding her eyes from the building light admitted from Autobot Ratchet's search lights. Ratchet quickly turned them off, realizing her was blinding the poor girl. He stepped out of his cab, walking up to her. "I was wondering if I could inspect that car." He asked, pointing to the Charger.

"Could you come back tomorrow to do it? I'm kinda tired."

"I think I can get it working if you'd just give me a few minutes."

The girl seemed to consider this for a moment. "Where's your friends?" She asked, peering behind the search and rescue hummer.

"Only Ironhide knows I'm here. We did not tell Bumblebee."

She shrugged her shoulders. "You can look at it, but I've been working on it for a while now, I just can't figure it out."

"Just let me pull in and we'll take a look at it." He said, grateful that she didn't catch his slipup.

"Uh... sure, I guess."

xxxxxx

"You still think it's her, don't you?" Sam asked quietly.

The sun was just about to completely disappear past the distant mountain top as Sam sat on Bumblebee's hood after just having found him parked outside the graveyard.

"I can feel it." Bumblebee's hologram nodded, though his body language didn't match his speech. "But, at the same time, Ratchet is probably right. I mean if anyone would know what to do about the whole thing, it would be him. And even if it truly was her, Ratchet is right to say that without energon, her spark would have faded."

Sam nodded his understanding, hearing another car pull up behind him he turned around, regarding the female Optimus with a small smile. The girl walked up, hands stuff in her pockets.

"Still here?" She asked Bumblebee. The hologram nodded, moving to stand off his own hood. "Yah. I can go if you'd like."

Optimus shook her head. "Nah, don't worry about it." She said, pulling a key on a key ring from her pocket, she tossed it to Sam. "Just lock the gate on your way out, alright? You can drop the key off at the firehouse later on." She nodded to Sam and Bumblebee. "Take care of yourselves. We'll meet at the diner in the morning for breakfast."

She was about to say goodnight when the CB radio on the truck let off an alarm.

"_Optimus, it's Red. Sensors picked up a Mustang police car making good speed in our direction. Looks like trouble."_

"Mustang police car?" Sam whispered, looking to Bee who nodded.

"_Yo, Optimus, you there?"_ Red Alert's voice came back over the CB. _"I sent Ironhide to the town's edge to meet the cop there, see if she can't turn him around to head back to his own town."_

"Optimus, you have to warm them, that cop car is very, very dangerous! They have to stay away!" Sam said, moving away from Bumblebee to run up to the girl's car. She was reaching into the glove box, placing a black box in the windshield and plugging it into the cigarette lighter, before reaching back in a pulling out a small firearm.

"Why? You know the cop?" She asked, tucking the weapon into it's holster.

"You could say that." Sam admitted sheepishly, covering his eyes a little as she flicked a switch and the black box she had placed in her windshield started to flash like that of an unmarked cop car, except, it wasn't red and blue, but blue and yellow. "He is very dangerous and wouldn't have a second thought about killing any of you!" He yelled, turning around when Bee's engine revved and the Camaro shot off.

"Bee, wait!"

"Get in!" Optimus shouted. Sam quickly got in and they sped off.

xxxxxx

Bumblebee saw the red and blue flash of the Decepticon's light bar. He shot past Ironhide's truck and out into the desert, right past Barricade by mere inches. When the Decepticon made no attempt to spin around and go after him, Bumblebee knew there was trouble brewing.

"_Bumblebee to Ironhide and Ratchet. We've got trouble! Barricade is approaching - fast! He's coming from the east!"_

"_I hear you kid."_ Ironhide responded. _"Ratchet is a little busy right now. Ah- don't ask questions."_ He said, knowing what Bumblebee was thinking. _"I'll meet you at the town line and we'll take him. Even if we have to expose ourselves, we'll protect the town."_

"_Alright!"_ Bumblebee replied, spinning around and taking off after Barricade.

xxxxxx

Optimus shut her truck's door and moved to stand in front of it. Parked just a few feet away was Ironhide's truck, sporting the same light in the windshield as the girl already had her pistol drawn, though currently it was at her side and pointed at the ground.

It wasn't long until Red Alert's EMS truck pulled to a stop behind Optimus', red now being added to the mix of the flashing lights. Now she was standing next to her leader, shotgun in hand.

"What do you think is going on?" She asked, seeing Barricade's cop car form speeding towards the town, Bumblebee following and picking up the slack behind. Without much warning, Autobot Ironhide went flying past the small group, speeding out into the desert to meet with Barricade before he could reach the town.

"Seems like all your friend's know him." Optimus observed, turning to glare at Sam a little before she turned back. Her eyes widened.

Autobot Ironhide was currently on a head on collision course with the cop car.

And neither showed any sign of slowing down.

xxxxxx

A/N: It's short for a reason!


	4. Female Autobots

Maggie nearly dropped her backpack when she had locked her door and found Optimus sitting outside her apartment. How the Semi had managed to pull up without her hearing him was beyond her.

She sighed, suddenly remember what day it was. "Oh my. I'm so sorry Optimus! I totally forgot about our camping trip!" She looked between her bag and Optimus sitting in her driveway in his truck form. She cursed a little under her breath. "We'd be able to leave right now, but I've got this important presentation to the Defense Secretary about finding you guys a base of operations."

Optimus so far had said nothing, but simply opened his passenger side door. Maggie sighed, climbing in, tossing her pack on the floor. "Tell yah what, just let me make my presentation. I won't hang around for the lunch after and then we can just get here, I'll pack really quickly and we can go, deal?"

She blinked when the truck rumbled under her. He was laughing at her!

"You worry yourself to much, Maggie. I have yet to say a single word and already you are worried I might be upset with you. I understand you are busy and I have already made arrangements to allow us to play catch up with the others later on. For now, we will go to your meeting."

Maggie sighed, sitting back against the truck seat. "You just had to let me ramble, didn't you?"

xxxxxx

"I believe that Optimus and the others will be happy with that arrangement, sir." Maggie said, collecting her things from around her a placing them into her bag, taking a moment to shake the Defense Secretary's hand. "I will pass the information along to them as soon as I can."

"That is good." He agreed. "And enjoy your camping trip, you've earned it." He said smiling at her as she blushed only slightly nodding her head before making her way down the hall's and outside to Optimus who was waiting patiently for her.

She greeted him as she climbed into his cab and they headed back to her apartment.

xxxxxx

"So have any others answered your call? I mean, there are more of you out there, isn't there?" She asked, watching the scenery go by as Optimus merged onto the highway.

"There have been few responses." Was his reply.

"So then there are more of you."

"You didn't think there was only five of us did you?" He asked, his engine rumbling in amusement.

"I had considered the option." She answered with a slight laugh. "So who answered your call? What are they like?"

"Well... One of them is named Prowl. He plans most of our moves on the battlefield. Though with the war for the Allspark now over, I hope I can convince him to take a well deserved vacation."

"Anyone else?"

There was a chuckle from the semi. "The Autobot twins have answered my call as well. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. They are they only spark twins alive, and two of my best warriors. They also have a bad habit of pranking Ironhide and annoying Ratchet."

"You mean someone is actually crazy enough to play a joke on Ironhide?" She asked, blinking slightly. She had only met with the Autobot Weapons Specialist in length a few times, but she knew that he was a force to be reckoned with, but only by those with signed death warrants.

"One time they dumped a large vat of hot pink paint on him." He said, clearly enjoying the memory though he would never admit it, especially to Ironhide.

"I take it back, that's not crazy, that's suicidal." Maggie said in awe, shaking her head.

Optimus slightly agreed. "I have also received word from a femme, Chromia. She is Ironhide's spark mate."

"A female transformer?" Maggie asked, looking at the radio out of habit.

"Correct." Optimus replied. "Her and Ironhide are in a relationship equivalent to what you humans call 'marriage'."

Maggie laughed softly to herself, imaging Ironhide being nagged by a female transformer. "What about the others? Do all of you have spark mates?"

"Ratchet has always been too busy to look for a spark mate, however, Bumblebee was infatuated with a femme named Arcee. I have yet to hear her respond to my message."

"Don't think I didn't notice you skip over yourself you know." Maggie said, watching a state trooper pass them and continue on, pulling over a speeding speed bike a little ways away.

"I have a spark mate, yes."

"What is she like?" Maggie asked, looking back to the radio.

"Why are you suddenly so interested in all of this, Maggie?"

This had the girl going into a small fit of laughter. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were embarrassed, Optimus."

"Well, if you must know." She could almost hear the sigh. "Elita is one of the greatest things to ever happen to me." He said, pausing before continuing. "She is the commander for the female Autobots. The last time I saw her she was working to liberate Cybertron from Decepticon forces. But..." Maggie heard his voice change a little. "I fear that she may be no more. There was a rather large explosion not long after we left Cybertron in search of the Allspark. I have not heard from her since."

"You said she commands the female Autobot forces, right? Well Chromia is a female Autobot, so wouldn't she know what happened to Elita?"

"One can only hope, Maggie. One can only hope."

Maggie sighed, realizing she had just single handedly killed the happy mood of their trip for the next few hours. She decided she would keep quiet for a little while or at least until the next truck stop.

xxxxxx

A/N: Heh, this chapter had three points. A) To make people think that I was going to tell them what happened with Barricade and Ironhide. Sorry guys, not this chapter. B) To prove that I didn't forget about Optimus or Maggie. and C) Because I wanted to write something but didn't want to give away the Ironhide/Barricade incident just yet.

Maybe next chapter...

Maybe.


End file.
